“Dreaming Together, Again”

            This Sunday, February 2nd, we begin a new worship series at Christ United Methodist Church on dreaming and envisioning the future.  As my church prepares to embark upon a major strategic planning initiative later this spring, the church staff and I thought that it would be good to focus our worship and reflections this month on the role which dreaming and envisioning the future plays in the scripture.  We’ve titled this new series, “Let’s Dream Together, Again.” 

            We begin the series this Sunday with Joel 2:23-28.  The major portion of this passage is about God’s promise of salvation to the Hebrew people: 

O children of Zion, be glad
   and rejoice in the Lord your God;
for he has given the early rain for your vindication,
   he has poured down for you abundant rain,
   the early and the later rain, as before.
The threshing-floors shall be full of grain,
   the vats shall overflow with wine and oil.

I will repay you for the years
   that the swarming locust has eaten,
the hopper, the destroyer, and the cutter,
   my great army, which I sent against you.

You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied,
   and praise the name of the Lord your God,
   who has dealt wondrously with you. And my people shall never again be put to shame.
You shall know that I am in the midst of Israel,
   and that I, the Lord, am your God and there is no other.
And my people shall never again
   be put to shame. (verses 23-27)

These verses focus on the salvation of the Hebrew people as the restoration of their relationship with God.  In this restored relationship, God will bestow great abundance and bounty upon the people.  There will be timely rains, both at the beginning and ending of the growing season, so that the crops grow, thrive, and are bountiful.  Israel will once again be a land of plenty.  Further, they shall no longer be put to shame in front of other peoples because the blessings and bounteousness of God will be evident for all to see that God is with them and that God blesses them.  Then, the passage continues with verse 28:

Then afterwards
   I will pour out my spirit on all flesh;
your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
   your old men shall dream dreams,
   and your young men shall see visions.

            In verse 28, the emergence of prophesies and dreams and visions indicates that the time for this great restoration of relationship has arrived.  When people begin to see visions and prophesy, then the time of salvation has arrived.  The relationship with God will be restored and there will be direct communication between God and God’s people through the pouring out of God’s Spirit.   Here, we would do well to note the pivotal role which this passage has for the early church in the Book of Acts.  For it is this passage (continuing through verse 32), on which Peter bases the first Christian sermon at the day of Pentecost, when the first Christians received the Holy Spirit (see Acts 2:16-21).

            Notice in this passage that the people’s dreams and visions are not self-made.  That is, the dreams and visions do not come from the people, themselves.   Instead, God pours out God’s spirit upon the people and then they have prophesies and dreams and visions.  In other words, their dreams and visions are informed and empowered by God through the spirit.  To be clear, these prophesies, dreams, and visions come from God by way of God’s spirit.

      If you live in the Lincoln, Nebraska area and do not have a place of worship, then I invite you to join us at Christ United Methodist Church this Sunday, February 2, as we begin our series of reflections on the role of dreaming and envisioning as faithful discipleship.  In my proclamation, I will observe that it is not enough to simply dream and envision a better future.  Instead, we must be sure that our dreams and visions are empowered and guided by God’s spirit.  I will suggest several tests which we can use to determine whether our dreams and visions are genuinely from God. 

One way to test our dreams and visions is to ask whether they help us to embody the essential characteristics of the first Christian Church, which we discovered during our January series on the Book of Acts.  These four characteristics were: 

1.      The Church was a community of worship and support for its members.

2.      The Church served others, especially the poor and vulnerable.

3.      The Church welcomed everyone, even strangers.

4.      The Church learned and adapted.

Christ UMC is located at 4530 “A” Street.  We have three worship services on Sunday mornings at 8:30, 9:45, and 11:00.  The 8:30 and 11:00 services feature a traditional worship format and the services are held in our Sanctuary.  “The Gathering” at 9:45 is held in our Family Life Center (gym), and it is more informal and interactive.   

Come, join us.  Everyone is welcome and accepted because God loves us all.